The Immortal, The Weapon, and The Doctor
by SpawnofAnarion
Summary: The Doctor detects a mysterious signal coming from the Serenity,so he becomes a passenger. River says she's seen a strange man wandering around the ship, but no one believes her. Features my O.C., The Wanderer. First chapter isn't connected to the rest.
1. Prologue: A long time ago

**My second fic. Doctor who/Firefly**

** 10****/Rose, post Miranda Firefly  
><strong>

**Features my O.C. The Wanderer**

**Rated T for blood and violence, also reference to Hell, but talking of actual hell, not swearing**

**Reviews highly appreciated  
><strong>

* * *

><p>It was dark, and it was raining.<p>

Thunder crashed, and a flash of lightning illuminated a muddy, wet, broken-down camp of misshapen wooden shacks, surrounded by a brick wall. Large brick buildings with iron doors. Large pits loomed, and large mounds next to them.

And then there were bodies.

Discarded bodies everywhere, most dead, some close to it. They sat there in the mud, where the monsters had left them, the monsters with the black coats and red armbands and the lies. So many lies.

A figure in a dark coat and tall black hat strode along the space in between the buildings, accompanied by two soldiers. His face seemed wrong. Even though he walked through Hell, he was smiling, an eager smile, That you'd use when you were about to finish a long and painful task. The living crawled out of their way as the dead were kicked aside. They stopped in front of the imposing brick building that sat above it all. The strange man walked in, and left the soldiers and the dead to their business.

* * *

><p>Theodrick sat at his desk in his office. It was a quiet place, lit with sharp electric lights, and there were no windows to the outside world. Next to his desk was a small cubicle separated from the rest of the room by a one-way mirror that housed his 'interrogation' room. He liked to keep 'pets' there sometimes, their screams reminding him of the justice he brought by removing all vermin. On his desk sat a plaque reading: OBERST THEODRICK MASNET, HIGH INQUISITOR.<p>

Theodrick was busy shuffling through paperwork when he heard a strange thing.

It was a knock.

The colonel blinked a moment, as no one ever knocked. No one ever visited, for that matter. This wasn't exactly the place for a social call.

"Come in." he said in a high-pitched, nasily voice. A man walked in.

He was wearing a black top hat, with a black mask that covered the upper half of his face attached to it. His eyes were blocked by opaque, golden glass. He also wore a long black trench coat and fingerless gloves, but his most striking feature was his smile. It was the sort of smile that suggested that he was the predator and you were the prey. Theodrick started to feel a little nerous.

"What are you doing in my office?"

"I," the man's silky voice smoothly replied, "Am here on business. You are Colonel Masnet?"

"Yes, I am. What do you mean, business? Are you Gestappo?" The colonel couldn't think of anyone else who would have business in a concentration camp.

"No, I work for a much higher power than that." The man began to pace around the desk, his tone becoming threatening. "This camp, Hollenloch, as they call it, lives up to its name. By the end of the war, it will increase the holocaust mortalities by 10 million souls, almost single-handedly wiping out every war prisoner taken, as well as killing every last Jew and Gypsy in Europe." Then he turned and grinned, but it was not a grin of joy. "At least it would, if it survived the war. But that's the reason I'm here. To ensure that it's destroyed."

"What? What do you mean!" Theodrick began to get angry. "We've only just gotten this camp up and running. It was ordered constructed by the Furer himself! It's our largest, most advanced and efficient camp! Why would we destroy it!"

"Oh, It's quite simple. The reason it must be destroyed _is_ that it's the most 'efficient' camp. It's so efficient as to almost outstrip all of the other death camps combined. I'm here because of an opportunity. This camp was never remembered, and that's because it won't be able to affect the war. Therefore, to fulfill history, this camp cannot survive." The man was smiling even more now, his face lit up with a savage grin. Theodrick was not a brave man, and this man was starting to intimidate him to the point of fear.

"I...Don't think I understand. Who are you! What do you mean this camp won't survive?"

"To put it even more simply, I'm going to kill you all."

The man grabbed him by the throat, lifting him effortlessly from the ground and hurling him into to the barred cell and locking the door. Then he grabbed the colonel and tied him down on the table that he used for his 'pets'.

"I would just kill you, but you've caused more than you're fair share of brutality. After the war, many bodies were found in the floor of this room. The bodies were young girls, mangled and torn beyond belief by torture devices, torture devices that belonged to you. You're a monster. You deserve a _special_ kind of Hell."

* * *

><p>The soldiers heard screaming inside, but they thought nothing of it. People usually screamed when they visited the colonel. The man came out later, smiled, and promptly stabbed a bowie knife through the faces of both. He sheathed them and walked on.<p>

A group of soldiers marched up, saw the bodies, and drew their guns. The man drew a golden revolver in an instant, shooting all of them faster than an old-western gunfighter. He searched for another group of soldiers, he found two, one on each side of a building. Quickly scaling the building, he pulled out a grenade and threw it into the middle of one group, dispatching the dazed survivors with his pistol.

Drawing his knives, he jumped down in front of the other group of soldiers, getting right in the middle of them. He stabbed one through the chest, then pulled him around to take the bullets of his companions. He hurled the body at them, then drew his knives and killed them all while they were trying to recover.

Some of them tried to stop him at the gate. He ran forward, leaping over one and shooting him through the top of his skull. Drawing a knife, he kicked a soldier in the stomach and decapitated him while he was bent over, then shot another twice in the face. The man was dancing a dance of death. About a minute later all of them were dead. The man sheathed his weapons and set off towards the nearest brick building. He was really starting to enjoy this.

* * *

><p>Captain Kulldorf was getting angry. The camp hadn't responded to any contact for hours. Some dummkopf was going to get into big trouble over this.<p>

His caravan of cars crested the hill, and the camp came into view.

"Holy Mother in Heaven!" what was left of the camp was still burning. Nazi bodies were strewn around the entryway, all cut or shot, some had even been decapitated. The captain jumped out of the car and set off through the carnage towards the center of the camp.

He walked by some of the extermination buildings in time to witness one explode. 'Whatever teufel that did this must have opened up the gas chambers.' He thought. Almost tripping over some bodies, he broke into a run, barely staying ahead of the explosions. Arriving at the central building quickly. He ran inside.

The captain walked into the Inquisitors office. "Hello?" He was answered by an inhuman shriek that he would never get out of his head.

It was a man. Technically. He was cut and stabbed and broken so much that he was barely even recognizable as human. The thing was shrieking and yelling, but the only thing the captain could make out was "go...ldenAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEYES! IYYYYYAAAAAHIEEEEEEEE!"

* * *

><p>The man walked away from the rising column of smoke, fiddling with a golden pocket-watch. Finding the right setting, the man found time to smile for a job well done.<p>

Then he disappeared into a dazzling golden light.

* * *

><p><strong>Translations:<strong>

**Oberst: Colonel  
><strong>

**Dummkopf: Fool, blockhead, idiot, jack***, bonehead, half-wit, etc.**

**Teufel: Devil, Demon, Fiend, Terror**

**Hollenloch: Hellhole  
><strong>

**Every time the review button rings, a Nazi goes to Holle.  
><strong>


	2. Chapter 1: The Start of the beginning

The Serenity was cold and dark, her walkways chilling to just above freezing. It was on night cycle, and no one was awake. No one except a lone figure in a nightgown, who walked so gracefully and silently that it appeared she was a ghost.

River felt a little guilty, walking around without Simon's permission. He would be worried, he'd think it was dangerous. But she couldn't help herself. She needed to get out, to walk in the dark, to feel the ship's heartbeat thrumming beneath her feet. She loved the ship, more than almost everything but Simon. Simon would be worried if he knew that she never wanted to leave the ship. It felt like home.

She quietly tiptoed along the passageways, entering the main cargo room. She climbed up the side of the stairs and leaped up onto the third level, making for her favorite spot. Gracefully, River swung herself up onto a rafter and shimmied forward until she reached the highest one. She laid down on it, closed her eyes, and listened.

River could hear a song. It was in the distance, coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. It was beautiful, but sad, caressing her soul with its melody. It seemed distant, but all around her, like all the light and good in the universe was singing to her. It was calming. It let her forget, just for a moment, that she was a monster. Slowly but surely, River went to sleep.

* * *

><p>The TARDIS was at it again. The floor was rising and falling, buttons were blinking, and in the middle, trying to control it all, was a skinny man in a white shirt and pinstripe pants. "No! I want to go to Harraxia! No! NO!" The Doctor yelled to the TARDIS. She was flying wherever she wanted to go, and he couldn't stop her. Bad things usually happened when the TARDIS took him somewhere he didn't want to go. There was a loud THUNK and The Doctor fell to the floor. The TARDIS had stopped. "Where did you take me this time?" He asked. He was still mumbling to himself as he walked over to the doors. Reaching them, he grasped the handles and immediately flung them wide… and was almost blinded by the sunlight.<p>

The TARDIS had landed in what appeared to be an old-fashioned town that looked like it had sprung right out of the Wild West. Except for the occasional hover-cart. "Well this is odd," The Doctor muttered. "I haven't been 'round here before." He gave the air one big sniff. "Not the 1800s then. What time is this?" He closed the TARDIS doors and walked over to the TARDIS's interface. "Well," he said, "It can't be too far away from 1832." He looked at the interface. "What?" The screen said December fourth, 2518. "What? That can't be right." He went back to the doors and sniffed again. "But it is! This is very strange. What's a town from the old west doing in 2518?" He puzzled over it for a moment, then sighed. The TARDIS had him hooked. He turned to the TARDIS and shouted "O.K., you win, I'll have a look around." He donned his best brown coat, found his favorite sonic screwdriver, psychic paper, and for good measure as well as protection against the sun, he put on a Stetson. 'Weird thing to name a hat, but hey, it's a weird hat.' He thought. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

><p>River woke sharply, at the exact time she needed to. Rest cycle was almost over. She rolled off the platform, casually grabbing a chain on her way down, swinging towards a walkway, and then used her momentum to do a flip and land on her feet, making less noise than a cricket's step. Relaxed from the light exercise, she silently tiptoed back to her room and got back in her bed. She fell asleep again, but this time there was no song. She could feel what terrified everyone, and in her dreams everyone's irrational fears became her irrational fears, like darkness or spiders, and there were always Reavers, the thing that scared her the most. Reavers feasted on her flesh, defiled her, hurt her in horrible ways, and it was always terrifyingly dark, and other peoples fears came to life in her head, and it hurt.<p>

* * *

><p>Mal was on guard watch in the cockpit, making sure that they didn't accidentally run into Alliance, or worse. He always took the night shift, so their pet psychic could get herself some rest. He was thinking about the job they were going to do. A couple of people wanted transport from Aberdeen to Hera. It made him a bit nervous to be so close to Serenity valley, but the job was supposed to pay well and Inara wouldn't be required to see any customers, so he was fine with it.<p>

Eventually, River came in and took over, and Mal walked back through the corridor and went to his cabin. After trying to sleep for an hour or two, he gave up and walked up to the kitchen to try and find some coffee. He found most of the crew already there. Jayne was in the corner chair, drinking coffee with one hand and trying to sharpen a knife with the other. Zoe was sitting in her chair at the table, staring off into space. Inara was there, looking gracefully beautiful as always. She also had an extra cup of coffee for him, which was a bonus.

Thanking her for the coffee, he turned to the group and said, "alright everyone. Our next job is… well, different from the other ones." "You mean it's legal?" Jayne interrupted. "Um, yes, it's legal. It pays quite well, and it only requires us to transport some cargo-" "What kinda' cargo?" Jayne interrupted again. "Jayne, if you would stop interruptin', I'd get to that. We're actually goin' to be carryin' some people-" the crew all started talking at once."People? Mal, you can't get involved in the slave trade! We've done enough to anger people already-" Inara interrupted. "Would everyone just let me finish my gorram talkin'!" Mal shouted. Everyone stopped talking. "Alright, then. We're goin' to be taking some _Passengers_, and I mean paying passengers, from Aberdeen to Hera. Does anyone have a problem with that?" Simon poked his head in the room. "I do, actually. Mal, What are we going to do with River while they're here? The Alliance has stopped chasing us for now, but there's still a bounty on our heads. What do we do when several people that we have never met before, who may be undercover bounty hunters or Alliance agents, come on board?" "Ummm… well…" Mal tried to think of an answer. Another voice came from the other hallway. "I can hide myself, Simon."

River's voice made everyone jump. She had entered the room so quietly that none of them had noticed her. "We can't just turn down their offer, it's worth twelve thousand platinum." River said. Jayne sat up strait. "Twelve thousand platinum! Mal, how many passengers are we takin' on?" "Oh, five or six, I think." Mal answered."How are we gonna fit six extra people onboard?" Asked Zoe. Mal replied, "Aberdeen ain't very far from Hera, so they won't be here for long. What's the worst that can happen?"

* * *

><p>Just outside of the room, a figure stood up from where he was listening. 'You'll see, Mal. You'll see.' He thought. Then a mad grin slowly lit up his face as he pulled out a golden pocket watch. I seemed to stay there, floating in the air, even after the man disappeared in a flash of light. It stayed to watch the coming chaos.<p> 


	3. Chapter 2: Weirder and weirder

Director Harrison was getting anxious. He had only gotten the call ten minutes ago, but he had practically sprinted from the meeting room to his shuttle. It had been extremely promising. He had felt the strain of months draining away. It didn't matter that his agent production rate was too low. It didn't matter that he'd been unable to reclaim Agent Tam, even with the support of the Blue Hand agents. It didn't even matter that the high council had given him a deadline for the recreation of another super-agent. It didn't matter, because they'd found one. He had rejoiced, but his glee slowly turned to anxiety as he began to worry. _I hope they haven't damaged him, _He thought. _They can be too rough with those clamps. I wouldn't want to lose my prime specimen._

He put aside his worries as the shuttle pulled in front of the docking umbilicus. He stepped out, accompanied by two guards. He walked briskly to the door. It was all he could do to not break out into a run.

After what seemed like an eternity of walking, they finally made it to the door. The guard reached for the access pad in what seemed like slow motion. The Director almost burst with anticipation as the guard typed in the numbers, and…

"Sir, it won't open."

"WHAT!" Harrison yelled, a lot louder than he'd meant to. Re-addressing the alarmed guard, he started; "I mean…" He took a deep breath. "Why?"

"I don't know, sir. It just won't open."

"Then open it."

"Sir?"

"BREAK THE GORRAM DOOR DOWN!" The director roared.

"Yes sir!" The alarmed guard kicked at the door like his life depended on it, which it probably did. After five minutes of pounding, the door finally broke down. The exhausted guard fell back, his chest heaving. _Finally,_ thought Harrison, _I can stop worrying. _When the Director looked into the door, however, his anxiety exponentially increased.

The room beyond would've looked like it had recently been hit by a tornado. That is, if it was a tornado that was packing serious heat. The room was riddled with bullet holes, the desks and chairs were in pieces, and papers were fluttering around the room.

After a moment of shock, Harrison muttered:

"Secure the area."

The guards stood still for a moment longer before they lethargically started walking into the room. They began to go faster and faster until they were practically sprinting through the room. One guard stumbled over something, and then yelled "Sir! There's a body over here!"

Harrison rushed over. He sighed in relief. It was only a lab worker. Still, it was disconcerting, seeing a body covered in so much blood.

"Keep moving," Harrison said. "We need to secure the subject."

They went on carefully, passing many bodies. Whoever did this hadn't taken any casualties in the attack, even though they had had over fifty guards in this building.

_Thank god the agents were out on missions, or we might've lost them too._ Harrison thought. They reached the holding chambers shortly. The door was busted open. They quickly rushed inside. The Cells and interrogation chair were empty, and the bodies of his chief analysts were littered across the floor.

"Search this room!" Harrison ordered loudly. "Find anything, and I mean anything, that would help us identify who did this!"

The guards searched frantically for several seconds, before a guard yelled out "Sir, there's a survivor over here!"

Harrison sprinted over to the place. A boy in a lab coat was cowering behind the interrogation chair.

"Come out of there, son," The guard crooned, "We won't hurt you."

The boy crawled out. They could see he was in his late teens, almost a man, but something about him seemed boyish. He stared at the room in shock.

"Who are you, boy? What are you doing here?" Harrison asked.

"I…I'm an intern here…I've only been here for a week or two." The boy replied, in a rugged accent.

"What happened here?"

The boy's lip started to tremble, tears beginning to appear at the edges of his yellow eyes.

"W-w-well, I… I got to come see the new subject. It was my first time… they decided I was ready…"

"What happened? Tell me!"

"I… I don't know!" The boy's head hung down, his shaggy black hair fell over his eyes. "It all happened so fast… I remember that we were in the lab, and the new subject came in… and then there was gunfire outside, and some men blasted open the door… then…they…they killed everyone, but I got behind the chair before they saw me… I heard them take away the subject…"

"Damn! I can't believe this! After all my hard work!" Harrison moaned.

The boy glanced up sharply. "Your-"

"Director, there's something you might want to see here!" A guard shouted from the door. Harrison walked away from the boy, but he had a strange feeling that the boy was still watching him.

"What is it, what is so urgent?" Harrison had never felt so depressed.

"Uh, sir, I don't really know how to say this…" The guard whispered.

"Spit it out, man." Harrison said, a bit louder than he'd meant to.

"Well… this door opened into the room… but the doors are on the outside…"

"So?"

"These doors were bashed open from the _inside_." The guard said. " Also, the gunshots on the walls looked like the bullets guards' guns had. Their clips were empty."

With a sinking feeling, Harrison slowly turned to look at the boy. He was staring back.

"What's your name, boy?" Harrison said slowly.

In a suave, cool, Londinium voice completely different from his previous voice, the boy replied, "Why, I don't really have one. I used to have one, but that doesn't really matter." The boy seemed to transform from a scared, shifty-eyed youth to an intimidating adult, from prey to predator.

"The real question is," It continued, "Who do you work for? Are you the proprietor of this fine establishment?" He said, sarcastically gesturing to the room around them.

"You… you're…the…" Harrison couldn't seem to complete the sentence.

"Yes, I'm your gorram subject, and you just told me all I need to know." He broke out in a gleeful grin, let out a cackle that sent shivers down their backs. Then he glanced at a pocket-watch. "Well, this has been fun, but unfortunately, I'm out of time." He looked up at them. "I'm afraid I must go. I might as well I'll go out with a bang. By the way, thanks for opening the door." Then he pulled out a detonator, pressed the button, and sprinted out the door.

* * *

><p>River was waiting above the entrance. She'd been waiting for a while, but they would come soon. Mal had told her to read the passengers as they boarded the ship, just to make sure.<p>

"I still don't like it." Jayne had been griping to Kaylee ever since they'd begun preparations. River was unsure too, but she trusted Mal.

"We've had bad luck every time a new person boards this ship. What if one of the passengers is an Alliance Operative, or somthin'?"

Kaylee was quick to reply. "That's why River's here. She won't let anythin' past unless it's s'posed to be here. Besides, Alliance ain't worried about us anymore."

River was beginning to dose off when she felt something. It was alien. it was so vast that she could barely take it. She fell to the ground. A moment later the world shook. A column of fire spewed out of sewer drains all around across the town.

"What in hell was that?" Mal shouted down.

"There was some earthquake or somethin'," Replied Kaylee. "Its stopped now."

"Either way, get down to the engine room, we're flying away at the exact minute we said and no later." Mal Ordered.

"Yes sir!" Kaylee sprinted off towards the engine room.

River got up, and shook her head clear. She hoped the passengers arrived soon, because whatever she'd felt had been evil.

* * *

><p>The Doctor had been looking around for a day and was very confused. He had absolutely no idea where he was. He had just been making his way back to the TARDIS when the ground exploded. As the shaking began to stop he heard a scream.<p>

"Molly, no! Get away from there!" A woman was frantically pulling at a teenage girl, screeching in a high-pitched voice. "You don't even know those men!"

The girl tugged back fiercely. "Let go, Aunt Gertrude! They need help! Let me go!"

The Doctor glanced at the men they were talking about. The fire had burned them, and just from the glance he could tell that they wouldn't make it. He jogged over to them and put an arm on the girl's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can do for them."

"Let go of my niece! Who are you?" The woman named Gertrude asked.

"I'm the Doctor. Listen," He said, turning to the girl. "You are very brave to try to help them, but they're beyond anyone's help. You should leave them alone."

"Yes, Molly dear, we need to catch our ride off this godforsaken dirtball. You, Doctor…"

"Just Doctor, thanks."

"Leave us alone. We have very important family, and you may be in court just for talking to us." The large woman promptly turned on her heel and marched away. The girl scurried off after her, occasionally glancing back at him.

_Weeeeell, that was odd._ The Doctor thought._ What did that woman say again… oh yes, transport… off this dust ball? So they have space travel… I simply must see that._

The Doctor went back to the TARDIS. He went to the console, set in some information, and stopped for a moment. _Please, just let me have this one jump. Just a really, really short jump._ Then he hit the space-time displacer.

When the explosion happened again, The Doctor had already determined which ship the girl was taking and packed up the TARDIS. He used his psychic paper to get a very good amount of money. Something about this place was off, and his investigation had turned up nothing. He decided to follow the only other lead he had.

There was only a minute left when the passengers finally showed up. "They're here!" River yelled. As the passengers began to board, she did a quick scan of heir thoughts. The first person up was a con man on the run. Next up was a businesswoman who had just been promoted. Behind her was an old blind carpenter, who was going to live with family. Behind him were a strict chaperone and her niece, who obviously didn't want to be there. Behind them walked a pale young man who happened to be the best accountant in the world. Behind him…

"Hallo! I'm John Smith. I was wondering if I could get a ride. I _can_ pay." The man ended, looking warily at Jayne's shotgun. Mal walked over to him, checked the money, and blinked in surprise. River noticed that the man had over four times the other passenger's price. River tried to scan him, but for some strange reason she couldn't get in.

"I guess that's enough. Welcome aboard, every- Jayne!" Mal spotted he firearm. "Put that thing away, we don't need guns! Kaylee, start up the engine!" Turning back to the group, he continued; "Welcome aboard, everyone. We'll be flying for about a week, so get comfortable. We have rooms for each of you, excepting Mr. Smith. We have what passes for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dining room, which only fits six at a time. You can ask any of the crew for help if you need it. This woman here is Zoe, my first mate. That's Jayne, our… security… person…" Mal struggled with the words. "Kaylee, that girl who just left, is our engineer. That man over there is Simon, our doctor. I'm Mal, the captain. Dinner is in five hours. We… hope that you enjoy your trip." Mal turned and walked back up to the cockpit.

Everyone stood still for a moment, and then the crew went to work settling the passengers. River sneaked up the stairs and followed Mal. When she found him, Mal was guiding the Serenity out of the atmosphere.

"Mal."

Mal jumped, like he always did when River walked into the cockpit. He never heard her.

"River! Got anything for me?"

River reported most of what she'd found… with the exception of the man she couldn't read. That was something she needed to investigate.

As the Doctor finished setting up his makeshift home, he remembered the strange person attacking his mental barrier. _This place just gets weirder and weirder._ He thought. Then a man in a brown duster and a cowboy hat fell from the catwalks and landed on Mrs. Gertrude.


	4. Chapter 3: The Beginning of the plot

**Hi, guys! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated, but I'm free now. Thanks for all the reviews! This is my first real fic, so if anyone has any suggestions of how to write a certain character, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!**

Mrs. Gertrude screamed. Jayne swore loudly. Mal and Zoe's guns materialized in their hands. Everyone else stood there, mouths wide open. Mrs. Gertrude shoved the man off her, and then started to savagely beat him with her purse. "Dirty scoundrel!" She screamed. The stowaway began to squeal in terror. Taken aback, Mal was the first to partially recover.

"Uhh… Ma'am?" Mal began. "Please step away from the… man… We might want to ask him some questions…"

Mrs. Gertrude didn't seem to notice.

"Really…" Mal began again. Then he stopped, feeling very awkward.

"Take that, and that, you filthy vermin! What gives you the right to jump on a respectable woman? Who do you think you are?" Mrs. Gertrude ranted, her purse savagely beating the stowaway about the head. Mal didn't look like he was going to do anything, so Simon stepped in.

"Excuse me Ma'am, but I think I should analyze your wounds before you hurt yourself. That poor man may have injured you somehow."

Mrs. Gertrude straitened herself up, brushed herself off, and turned to look at Simon. She started to form a sentence, then stopped, her mouth hanging open momentarily, breath heaving in and out. Eventually she calmed down and her voice returned. All she said was; "I'm sure I'm quite fine." in a pompous manner, "Although if your crew had been doing their jobs, I wouldn't have needed to defend myself. I will file a complaint."

While she was distracted the stowaway tried to crawl away. He didn't get very far. Mal had snapped out of his trance and marched over to the stowaway, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and hauled him to his feet, a difficult task as the man was a bit on the chubby side. Mal signaled Jayne over and they dragged the prisoner up the stairs and through the dining room to the storage compartment that occasionally doubled as a cell.

* * *

><p>In all the confusion the Doctor was able to slip inside the TARDIS, which he had snuck on board an hour before the explosion, and finish setting up the hologram projection of a large box. It was unremarkable to anyone who wasn't a genius or a psychic, but he decided to play it safe.<p>

When he exited, things were pretty much back to normal. The crew had finished settling everyone in and most people were getting used to their rooms, except Mrs. Gertrude, who had apparently decided that she wanted to be checked for injuries after all and was insisting that Simon give her his full attention.

Being the Doctor, he couldn't just sit down and relax like everybody else. He was very curious about the strange stowaway, and nothing had yet stopped him from investigating something curious. The Doctor walked around the shadowy edge of the room, being careful to not alert anyone to his presence. When no one was looking (Mrs. Gertrude was loudly complaining about the 'low, degrading sleeping quarters not fit for someone of her stature') he sprinted up the stairs and darted into the space between the door to the kitchen and the door to the cargo bay.

Softly closing the door behind him, he pulled out a glass and his sonic screwdriver. Putting the glass to the door, he sonic'd it, put his ear to the base, and was rewarded by a clear version of the conversation on the other side.

"Answer the question, man, why're you on my ship?" That voice was obviously Mal's.

"I wanna get away from dat place as fast as I could, dat place is gonna be full o' alliance big shots soonah or latuh."

The unfamiliar voice, the stowaway, reminded the Doctor of some people he'd met in the old west. One man in particular, a cowboy, came to mind.

"As fuh my name, sirruh, it'd be Jeremiah, ex cowboy."

"Why do you think the alliance would care about a little planet?"

"I know a lot bout' things dat happen round' here. Dat 'splosion, it was a secret base dat they think no one knows 'bout. I don't think dayll like dat, don't ya? An when dey come, deyll find sommat to blame et on, and it ain't gonna be me."

"Ah hell, Mal! I don't wanna get caught up in no more alliance plots! Ain't we had 'nough a them yet?" The other voice was probably Jayne, the security officer person.

A communication device of some sort rang, and Mal answered it. He talked to whoever was on the other side for a few seconds before snapping it shut and shoving it back in his pockets.

"Apperently not, Jayne. We got company. You go secure the passengers. We may be in for a rough flight."

The Doctor realized that Jayne was coming through the door and was just barely able to get out before Jayne came barreling through. The Doctor quickly slid down the railing behind him and tried to act normal. Jayne was obviously unused to calmly warning people of disaster, as what he yelled out didn't exactly inspire confidence.

"Batten down the hatches, it's gonna be a rough ride!"

Most people went to secure their belongings, but Mrs. Gertrude had a fit.

"A rough ride? This is a passenger flight! Why in the world would we be having a rough ride, you country bumpkin!"

Her niece, who had only just finished setting up their belongings, came over and tried to calm her down.

"Stop making such a fuss, auntie, we're lucky these people took us on…"

"Lucky?" Mrs. Gertrude's face turned an interesting shade between maroon and magenta as her voice reached maniacal heights. "You think that we're lucky that these ignorant farmers children are treating us like commoners? They should be bowing and kissing our feet! They should be begging for our forgiveness for their rusty hulk of a ship! They should be-" Her sentence unexpectedly ended as the deck shifted beneath their feet. Mrs. Gertrude tripped over her poofy dress and she fell, letting out a squeal. Mal's voice came on over the intercom.

"Attention, passengers, we appear to be having a minor disagreement with some alliance ships, so you may be feeling some shaking… and possibly fiery death… but we have a very good pilot, so that is unlikely."

Needless to say, the passengers weren't happy.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile in the cockpit, River was managing the disagreement quite well. Three medium sized ships and one large cruiser were attempting to give chase, but to no avail. Under her control, the <em>Serenity<em> was flying like a leaf on the wind. She nimbly dodged between two of the three medium ships and was disappointed by the sight of the third barely avoiding collision with the other two. River was having a lot of fun, as they were amateurs. The big one worried her though. _Big, big, big as the sky… he knows… but not for long._ River skillfully dodged another barrage of missiles, but one exploded near the port side and the deck rumbled beneath her.

Mal came stumbling up into the cockpit. "That was waaaaaay too close for comfort, River! Get us out of here!"

River quickly decided on a good course of action. The _Serenity_ started on a course to go right past the cruiser. The three smaller ships gave chase, slowly gaining on her. She switched direction and flew directly toward the cruiser. The ships charged towards each other, and neither of them wavered.

They came closer… and closer… At the last second River dived. The alliance ships crashed together, and River flew away. She felt so alive and free; she almost didn't notice Mal tapping her on the shoulder.

"Good job, River. I'll take over now. You deserve a rest."

River didn't really want to go. She felt like she had a purpose when she was at the controls. She handed them over to Mal anyway. She didn't want him to think that there was something the matter with her.

She walked back to her room along the back corridors. Mal had given her strict orders to not let the passengers know that River Tam was hiding aboard _Serenity_. The official alliance story on her was that she was a psychopathic killer, so they might try to call for help and attract more alliance attention. Presently she climbed down into her cabin, flopped on the bed, and went to sleep.

* * *

><p>River didn't dream of reavers that night.<p>

_It was cloudy and grey, like mist. The mist was endless, broken only by one splotch of darkness and three bright pinpoints of light. Then the light and dark began to grow. They got bigger and bigger until they clashed against each other. The light began to overpower the dark until it was only a small portion of its former size. Then, something changed. The darkness grew stronger, fighting back the light inch by inch. It reached out to the light and planted a seed of darkness in the heart of the brightest point. The darkness grew. The dream changed. Now the light and the dark were one plain. The darkness spread out of a great beast, the light from three bright warriors. The darkness grew inside the biggest until it consumed it, but it was a different darkness, a cunning one. It Turned to one of it's former brothers and stabbed it through the heart. The brilliant light fell to its knees, fading into a mere shadow, then disappeared. The new darkness and the old both turned to the last of the light. The shadow grew and covered all that had once been bright, spreading even to the last light. Darkness lanced through its body, spreading up until the only light that remained was its hand… but the last light wasn't done… its hand lit up in a tiny flame that grew and grew until it was a blazing inferno. It blazed across the plain, destroying the traitor and blasting the dark. In the end it devoured all but a small splotch of dark and a small pinpoint of light… then all was grey… until the dark began to grow again._

* * *

><p>In a bright flash of light, River was suddenly awake. Something was wrong.<p>

River jumped out of bed and flew up the ladder. _I have to get to Mal!_ she thought. She was sprinting to the cockpit when she tripped on something in the darkness. Barely recovering, she turned to see what she'd tripped over.

She could only make out a bare outline, so she reached out and felt... a hand. It was a semi normal hand with a scar on the ring finger. _Where my ex-wife ripped the ring she gave me off my finger… No! Not yours! Not me! Get out!_

_I remember now... she was angry... she said I was a liar... a trickster... I tried to tell her that I really did love her. She shoved some papers in my face, said they had my criminal record on them... I begged her not to go. I showed her my hand, the hand with the ring she'd put on my finger, and told her I was telling the truth. She looked me in the eye and tore the ring off. I was so... angry. SO, SO, ANGRY! I lost control... I didn't mean to... I wasn't going to hurt her... but I was so_ **ANGRY**-_No! Not yours! Not yours! Get out of my head!__  
><em>

River gripped her head and started to sob. The memories weren't hers. They belonged to the dead con man on the floor; a piece of the shattered memories of a dead soul.

"Get out of my head… get out… get out!" River cried into the night.

* * *

><p>The Doctor hadn't been sleeping. He didn't really need to sleep. That was why he heard the echoes of the physical and mental anguish of the person in the corridor.<p>

_Get out…get out… _they said over and over.

The Doctor rushed to the spot, almost tripping on the way up the stairs. He looked around in the dark, but he couldn't see a thing. Instead, he listened.

* * *

><p>"GET OUT OF ME!" River wailed, pounding her head. "YOU DON'T BELONG HERE!"<p>

A man burst into the corridor. It was the strange man she couldn't read. The puzzle pieces clicked in her head as both her and the remains of the dead man's mind both whispered '_he's the murderer_.' River fled, still trying to push the dead man away.

* * *

><p>The Doctor began to make chase, yelling "Stop! Wait!" But before he could make any headway he tripped over something in the hallway. His hands felt sticky as he stood back up, and it only took him a moment to realize that his hands were covered in blood. A quick inspection of the body confirmed that he had tripped over a dead man. A quick inspection of the body revealed a jagged knife wound in the man's chest, almost a foot long. He sat back and considered for a moment, deciding that it would be wiser to leave the scene of the crime and let the body be found by the crew than to report it himself, as the captain seemed fairly sharp and he'd probably suspect the man who reported it. The Doctor quietly crept back to the TARDIS, making sure that no blood marked his path.<p>

* * *

><p>River sat with her hands around her knees up in the rafters, rocking back and forth. She'd finally managed to clear the intruder's thoughts out of her head, but she was still frightened by her close encounter with the murderer. Eventually she managed to look down, but her heart almost stopped. She could make out a man sitting, cleaning a big bronze knife, and humming a tune. He stood there, frozen, as he stood up and began to walk away. Just before he got out of hearing range, River heard crazy laughter echoing in the corridors. Even after he'd disappeared into the darkness, River still sat there, like a scared child, rocking back and forth.<p> 


	5. Chapter 4: Mounting Terror

Mal thought his day couldn't get much worse. Jayne had 'accidentally' almost stabbed Mrs. Gertrude with a kitchen knife, and she'd been wailing on and on about it all through supper. He'd woken up the next morning with her angry wails still ringing in his ears. As he got out of bed, he'd slipped and fallen on his face. To top it all off, he'd walked all the way to the bridge to find out that river had taken his shift, so he wasn't even needed. The ship was starting to wake up, though, so he couldn't really go back to sleep.

He was on his way to the living room to find some coffee when his shoes began to squelch. He didn't really take notice of it until he stumbled and almost face-planted in the stuff. When he glanced down to see what he'd tripped on, he froze.

It was a hand, soaking in a pool of blood.

Mal stood there for a second, uncomprehending. He slowly walked over until he could see the face of the corpse. He breathed a mental sigh of relief to see that it wasn't one of his crew. It was the con man. But his relief was quickly replaced by horror. There was a killer on his ship.

* * *

><p>Jayne was dreaming. It was an odd dream. His usual dreams were always in one of several categories. There were the dreams about his father, the dreams about his mother, and the dreams about the war. This one was different. It was just him, sitting in the kitchen, talking with Molly. She would laugh, and he would sit there, and it was nice. Then she reached over, grabbed his shoulders, and… started shaking him violently.<p>

"Jayne! Wake up you gorram idiot!"

"Blaaaah! What! What?" Jayne spluttered into wakefulness.

"Good, you're awake." He opened his eyes to see Mal and Zoë standing over him.

"What the hell you waking me up for!"

"We have an emergency." Mal said.

* * *

><p>"Yup, he's dead."<p>

"We got that, Jayne. We need your help. We've got no idea what killed this guy."

Jayne kneeled down and took a closer look at the body. Mal had dragged it into a closet and had mopped up the blood. Even so, this guy was messed up.

"Whoever did this is a cold hearted bastard. This wound is a foot long, and judgin' by the 'mount o' blood, not a quick death, either." Mal shook his head. "Simon, you got anything?"

Simon stepped up and examined the body.

"Well, he may have gotten almost cut in half, but that's not the least of it. His spine is fractured in multiple places, his left elbow is broken, and he's swallowed some teeth. If there was a fight, this guy lost it. That slash actually cut off his esophagus, completely preventing him from crying out. It would've taken him several seconds to die."

They were silent for several moments.

"Aw hell, Mal."

"I don't want no damn murderers on my ship." Mal said shakily.

"Who could've done this?" Asked Zoë.

"It has to be one of the passengers. Assuming Jayne hasn't finally cracked." Simon said.

"Shut up! I ain't no gorram murderer!"

"Calm it down! Don't even joke, Simon."

"What're we going to do?"

They all thought for a moment.

"Nobody tell Gertrude, for one." Simon said.

"Let's just stay calm, and not tell the passengers. We wouldn't want to alert the murderer. Simon, you take the body to the med bay. Whatever you do, don't act like anything's happened." Mal said.

On that note, the crew went their separate ways. On one end of the hallway, the Doctor ducked down the hall and jogged back to the breakfast room. He started up a small conversation with Molly about daily onboard life while considering the implications of the murder.

On the other side River gracefully rushed up the wall and wedged herself into the ceiling space. As the crew members went by under her, she planned what she would do to catch the man she knew was the murderer.

* * *

><p>Molly was happy. That wasn't something that happened very often lately. Ever since she'd turned 16 she'd been shuffled from one boring string of parties and events to the next; being presented like some interesting pet, talked about, and then generally ignored. People had thought she was dull. It wasn't that. She just didn't enjoy the things an 'upper class lady' should enjoy. It had been like a prison.<p>

Since she had gotten on this ship, however, her life had become interesting. Everyone was rough, but no one was boring. No one ever went on and on about his or her 'summer mansion' or his or her 'magnificent space yacht'. Nobody was sizing her up to join his collection of trophy wives. The walls were bare but nice to look at, and those beds! They might've been no more than cots, but for the last few months she'd had to contend with the 'latest fashion' of beds, which were so soft you sank into them and couldn't get out without assistance. Nobody was a servant here, either. Everyone was equal, and free to do pretty much as they pleased.'

She would've been completely happy with the whole thing but for her aunt. She new her aunt meant well, but she was getting worse than usual lately, going off at her at every little thing. Then there was the matter of Simon.

Simon seemed nice enough to Molly, but her aunt was infatuated with him, often calling him the "only decent man on the ship' which Molly thought was a little harsh. The extent of her aunt's infatuation appalled Molly. He was clearly in a relationship with Kaylie, and plus, her aunt was at least a decade older than him, probably more. Yet she still attempted to flirt with him at every opportunity. It horrified Molly to no end.

Snapping out of this train of thought, she finished making coffee and rejoined a conversation between Mr. Smith and the old carpenter.

"What're you on about now?" She asked.

"Oh, mister… what was your name?"

"My name's Ol' Tom."

"Mister Tom here was just telling me about alliance oppression."

Molly looked confused. "Oppression?" She asked.

"Oh, that's right, you ain't from round here. Those bastards took us over and squeeze us for every penny we have. Now we know that the Reavers were made by them?" The old man peered at the young lady. "Your folk have a lot to answer for."

"M-my folk?" Molly stuttered. "I have never done anything against you people! Besides, the unification was good for your planets!"

"You say that 'cause you don' live here!"

"Enough!" John stood between them. "No need to get in a fight over this. It wouldn't exactly improve onboard conditions."

"Just as well." The old man grumbled. "Besides, Alliance would shoot us down weather or not there's Alliance onboard."

Molly looked up at him sharply.

"You don' know?" Old Tim chuckled. "Well, missy, you hitched a ride on a smugglin' ship." He began to walk away. "An by the color of the cap 'n's coat, not an alliance friendly one, either."

Molly stormed off and left The Doctor to his own thoughts.

'Well, this is an interesting development.' He thought. He hadn't realized that there were two groups of people, one of which had apparently just lost a war. What were Reavers? He'd have to find out.

'First things first, though.' He thought. 'I have to do something about that girl.'

The Doctor got up and walked towards the med bay.

* * *

><p>River was walking through the ship when she felt a strange tingling building up in her mind. Without warning it overflowed with huge, utter loneliness. River screamed.<p>

* * *

><p>The Doctor heard her scream and ran to the hallway but stopped short when he saw Simon already there. He quickly ducked behind the doorway.<p>

"River," He heard Simon say, "Are you alright?"

"I…I don't… I just felt so lonely for a moment, I don't know what happened…"

And suddenly, from down the hall, came another scream.

Molly was screaming, and everyone else just looked on in horror.

On the ground, in the middle of the cargo hold, lay a body. It was cut and battered in numerous places and someone had taken the pool of blood and smudged it all over the floor. It scrawled out this sentence:

**How many cuts does it take to get to the heart of an accountant? One? Two? I lost track at 35. The important thing is, I'm going to kill you all. Bye!**

The Doctor, River and Simon all rushed in at the same time. Everyone else was already there. Mrs. Gertrude turned to see them come in, went pale, and screeched, "It's the murderer! That psychotic killer from the newsreels!" She was pointing at River.

All hell broke loose.

The crew rushed to the defense of River, while the passengers tried to grab her. The Doctor looked on for a moment, then took his sonic and set it to maximum pointed directly at a solid metal beam. The resulting sound dazed everyone but the Doctor, who had popped in earplugs to protect himself. Taking these out, he began to take charge.

"Alright, everyone, calm down! We need to think this through. We can't just blame people without proof! Everyone go one by one!"

Mal stared at him for a moment, then decided that this would work better than if he took charge, he decided to go along with it.

Mrs. Gertrude went first. "That girl is a psychotic killer! We all know it! She's killed many brave alliance officers and soldiers, it's all over the newsreels!"

"That's a lie!" Yelled Simon.

"Silence! No talking out of turn."

"We should kill her and just be done with it!" Mrs. Gertrude finished.

Simon went next.

"This 'Psychotic killer' is my sister. I've known her all my life, and the only time she's been at all crazy was after the Alliance experimented on her!"

"Liar!" Molly yelled.

They began to argue again, at least until Mal shot his gun in the air. When they'd calmed down, the businesswoman, Maureen, went next. It continued until everyone had spoken, and they were firmly divided into pro and anti Alliance groups, the first arguing to lynch River, the second arguing that it must be one of the passengers.

In the end, they came to a truce, with River agreeing to be locked in with the prisoner and the passengers being confined to the cargo hold. Nobody was happy with the decision, but it worked. Mal caught up with the Doctor afterwards.

"Good job with the crowd. That could've ended badly for all of us."

"No problem. So, who do you think is the killer?"

"Well… of all of them, Gertrude seems the most murderous."

* * *

><p>Below them, in the cargo hold, the killer waited.<p> 


End file.
